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Manchester United star Wayne Rooney called it as he saw it during Super Bowl XLVI, tweeting “Trying to watch super bowl final. How do they call this football. Like watching paint dry. Looking forward to adverts and music.”

He has $24 million reasons for his bias. That’s how much the 26-year old British striker earned last year, placing him fourth of the highest-paid (what Americans call) soccer players in the world. Poor-mouthing the NFL might be seen like biting the hand that feeds him, given that he raked in $17 million in 2011 in salary and bonus from his club (ranked No. 1 among our list of the most valuable soccer teams in the world at $2.24 billion), which is owned by U.S. billionaire Malcolm Glazer and his family, who also own the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, Rooney can feel pretty secure after signing a contract extension commanding one of the highest salary and bonus structures in the sport, helping United win its record 19th Premier League title (and his fourth), and leading the club in goals. He can also boast selling the best-selling jersey in the league.

And who could blame Rooney for “looking forward to adverts” during the Super Bowl? reports that 51 percent of Super Bowl viewers watch just for commercials, and they are novel to Rooney's no-commercial-interruptions version of football. Perhaps he was watching in anticipation of the racy H&M spot featuring his England national teammate David Beckham. In it the chiseled 36-year old Beckham stood rotating on a turntable in only his skivvies to debut his signature line of bodywear. The new deal helped contribute to the $37 million in endorsements of the total $46 million the Los Angeles Galaxy star earned, making him the highest-paid soccer player in the world.

The multi-year arrangement with the Swedish retailer makes Becks a partner in the line, versus just a face for it, a shift his business partner Simon Fuller said marks his evolution “from sporting hero to entrepreneur”. It’s a wise move considering that while he modeled for Giorgio Armani, sales of their underwear reportedly doubled. Another sign Brand Beckham is becoming more business savvy? His contract with the Galaxy – he signed a two-year extension in January after winning his first MLS cup in November – includes an option to buy an MLS franchise at a discount, which he said he will do when he hangs up his boots.

In second place on our list is Real Madrid’s top scorer and 2008 world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo who earned $42 million last year in salary, bonus and sponsorships from the likes of Nike and Castrol. With 42.5 million Facebook fans and 8.5 million Twitter followers (enough to fill Real’s Bernabeu stadium 500-plus times over) he is the most socially engaged athlete online, and is leading a new trend in endorsements: social network deals.